| Public Release Date: August 8, 1997 | No. 97-41 |
St. Paul Technical College operated as part of St. Paul Public Schools until June 30, 1995. On July 1, 1995, the college became part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System (MnSCU) when the state merged the community colleges, state universities, and technical colleges. The college finances its operations through student tuition, fees, and state appropriations. Dr. Donovan Schwichtenberg is the current college president.
Our audit scope covered the period from July 1, 1995, through December 31, 1996. We audited general financial management controls, tuition and fees, federal revenue, payroll, materials, services, equipment, and enterprise fund activities. We also reviewed the administration of state and federal student financial aid programs for fiscal year 1997.
St. Paul Technical College had several internal control problems, particularly with processing personnel/payroll, purchasing materials and supplies, and determining the completeness of tuition receipts. Inexperienced staff were required to learn new business systems. As a result, transaction processing took priority over developing the internal control structure. Improvements were made in recording transactions for fiscal year 1997; however, the college has not achieved effective control over these transactions. The college had effective internal controls over other areas, such as monitoring revenue and expenditures against budgets, safeguarding tuition deposits, recording and reconciling local banking activities, and assuring compliance with student financial aid regulations.
The college concurred with the audit report findings and recommendations. The college indicated that it has already taken corrective action on several areas as shown in the agency response.
